Taco Bell recently began pumping up the marketing for its line of Fresco menu items, which the company says provide a healthy fast-food option. These items have been advertised as having fewer calories and less total fat. Let’s see how THREE Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos stacks up against what one might think to be a healthier item, the Chicken Ranch Taco Salad.

Calories:
Chicken Ranch Taco Salad has 910 calories
The three Fresco tacos have a total of 510 calories
Difference: 400 calories, or 20 percent of your daily caloric intake based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Grams of fat:
Chicken Ranch Taco Salad has 54g total fat, 10g saturated fat
Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos have 4g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat
Difference: 50 total fat, 8.5g saturated fat

It might be easy to assume that a salad on a fast-food menu is an obvious healthy choice, but the Chicken Ranch Taco Salad has more than 13 times the total fat of three Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos. So don’t let salads fool you. This Taco Bell salad is not your friend. Instead, try their Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos as the healthier alternative.